With recent tendency toward manufacturing cost saving and labor saving in electronics products, electronic component mounting apparatuses for mounting chip-type electronic components onto printed circuits used in electronics products are being vigorously developed.
In such an electronic component mounting apparatus, as a device for feeding electronic components to specified positions for mounting, there has been developed an electronic component feeding apparatus for feeding components with use of a taping component composed of a carrier tape, that incorporates electronic components in upper-side recess portions, and a cover tape attached thereto for covering the recess portions.
FIG. 19 is a view showing a conventional example of such electronic component feeding apparatus. As shown in this drawing, an electronic component feeding apparatus 501 shown herein comprises: an apparatus mainframe 505 for providing a transportation route of a taping component 3; a component housing reel 7 provided on one end of the apparatus mainframe 505; a tape sending mechanism 509 for intermittently sending off taping component 3 pulled out from the component housing reel 7 by a specified length along the transportation route on the apparatus mainframe 505; a cover stripping-off mechanism 515 for stripping off a cover tape 11 from a carrier tape 13 of the taping component 3 sent off by the tape sending mechanism 509 at a specified position on the transportation route of the taping component 3; a cover collecting mechanism 517 for serially taking up and collecting the cover tape 11 stripped off by the cover stripping-off mechanism 515; and a shutter 527 having a component pickup port 527a for picking up an electronic component 19 (see FIG. 20) on the carrier tape 13 exposed through stripping-off of the cover tape 11. The electronic component feeding apparatus 501 is installed in an electronic component mounting apparatus such that electronic components 19 on the carrier tape 13 exposed through stripping-off of the cover tape 11 are serially passed through a component pickup position 21 of the electronic component mounting apparatus.
The electronic component mounting apparatus is provided with a suction nozzle 23 for sucking the electronic component 19 by vacuum suction force in the component pickup position 21, and the electronic component 19 sucked by the suction nozzle 23 is sequentially transferred and mounted onto a printed board positioned in a specified position.
As shown in FIG. 20, the taping component 3 is structured such that on an upper face the carrier tape 13 incorporates chip-type electronic components 19 in upper-side recess portions 13a, and the cover tape 11 for covering the recess portions 13a is attached in a detachable manner. The carrier tape 13 is set to have a width larger than the cover tape 11, and on one side edge of the carrier tape 13 on which the cover tape 11 is not attached, engagement holes 13b for engaging with engagement hooks 529a of a wheel 529 of the tape sending mechanism 509 are provided along a longitudinal direction of the tape at constant pitches. The taping component 3 is housed in a state of being rolled onto the component housing reel 7 supported by the apparatus mainframe 505 rotatably about a reel axis (central axis).
The tape sending mechanism 509 has the wheel 529 disposed on a lower front side of a shutter 527 provided on a forward end side of the transportation route, that rotates by synchronizing with reciprocal movement of the shutter 527. As shown in FIG. 21, engagement hooks 529a for engaging with the engagement holes 13b of the taping component 3 are provided on an outer circumferential portion of the wheel 529 at constant pitches for intermittent constant-amount sending and positioning of the taping component 3. Also, the tape sending mechanism 509 is equipped with a drive motor 510, which rotates the wheel 529.
The shutter 527 is reciprocatably mounted on the apparatus mainframe 505 in a state of pressing an upper face of the cover tape 11 short of the component pickup position 21. As shown in FIG. 22, the shutter 527 comprises of a cover pressing member 527b for pressing the upper face of the cover tape 11, a cover pulling-out port 527c for pulling out the cover tape 11 stripped off from the carrier tape 13, a carrier pressing member 527d for pressing the upper face of the carrier tape 13 with the cover tape 11 stripped off, and a component pickup port 527a for the suction nozzle 23 to pick up electronic component 19 from the carrier tape 13.
In the cover stripping-off mechanism 515, the cover tape 11 is stripped off from the carrier tape 13 by a reciprocating operation of the shutter 527 which interlocks with a sending operation of the taping component 3 by the tape sending mechanism 509, a take-up torque imparted by the cover collecting mechanism 517 to the cover tape 11 and the like.
A dead cover tape 11 is collected by the cover collecting mechanism 517 placed on top of the apparatus. The cover collecting mechanism 517 collects the stripped-off dead cover tape 11 by winding it up onto a cover take-up reel 530 rotated by a drive motor 531.
Further, in order to prevent the electronic component 19 from failing from the component pickup port 527a of the shutter 527 when the electronic component feeding apparatus 501 is moved in a state of being dismounted from the electronic component mounting apparatus, an unshown cover is placed on the component pickup port 527a so as to put the component pickup port 527a in a closed state when the electronic component feeding apparatus 501 is moved.
Also, in such electronic component feeding apparatus 501, the drive motor 510 in the tape sending mechanism 509 and the drive motor 531 in the cover collecting mechanism 517 require maintenance according to frequency of use of the electronic component feeding apparatus 501, and therefore there may be a case, for example, that each drive motor is replaced. Operational procedures in a case of replacing the drive motor 510 in the tape sending mechanism 509 as an example of the above case will be described below.
First, description will be given of a relationship between the drive motor 510 and the wheel 529 in the tape sending mechanism 509. As shown in FIG. 23, in the tape sending mechanism 509, the drive motor 510 is fixed to a frame 553, and a slit plate for sensor 551 for a rotational speed measuring sensor 564 for measuring a rotational speed of the drive motor 510 is fixed to a rotational axis part 510a of the drive motor 510. The slit plate for sensor 551 is rotated in the drive motor 510 such that a peripheral portion of the slit plate for sensor 551 can pass inside a slit portion of the rotational speed measuring sensor 564 without making any contact therewith. Also, to the wheel 529, there is fixed a worm wheel 560 so as to have the same center of rotation. Since a worm 561 to be engaged with the worm wheel 560 is fixed to an axis part 562, rotating the axis part 562 about its axis rotates the worm 561, and thereby rotates the worm wheel 560 engaged with the worm 561, resulting in rotation of the wheel 529. Also, to a top end portion of the axis part 562 on the left side of FIG. 23, there is fixed a gear part 563. A gear part 510b, formed on a top end of the rotational axis part 510a of the drive motor 510, and the gear part 563 are engaged with each other. This enables rotational operation of the wheel 529 by the drive motor 510.
Next, description will be given of dismounting procedures of the drive motor 510. As shown in FIG. 23, by loosening a screw and the like, the tape sending mechanism 509 is dismounted as a unit from the apparatus mainframe 505. Then, in the tape sending mechanism 509 as shown in FIG. 24, for measuring rotational speed of the drive motor 510, a fixing screw 552 for fixing the slit plate for sensor 551, fixed to the rotational axis part 510a of the drive motor 510, to the rotational axis part 510a of the drive motor 510 is loosened, and a fixing screw 554 for fixing the drive motor 510 to the frame 553 of the tape sending mechanism 509 is unscrewed, so that the drive motor 510 is extracted from the frame 553.
Next, in a case of mounting a new drive motor 510 on the tape sending mechanism 509, mounting is performed in reverse order of the dismounting procedures of the drive motor 510. After the drive motor 510 is mounted on the frame 553 of the tape sending mechanism 509 such that the gear part 510b of the drive motor 510 engages with the gear part 563, the tape sending mechanism 509 is mounted on the apparatus mainframe 505. After that, as shown in FIG. 25, a center of a mounting reference position of the wheel 529 in the tape sending mechanism 509 is aligned with a center of a mounting reference position of the apparatus mainframe 505. Then, as shown in FIG. 26, a mounting position of the slit plate for sensor 551 is adjusted so that a peripheral portion of the slit plate for sensor 551 can pass inside the slit portion of the rotational speed measuring sensor 564 without making any contact therewith, by which a replacement operation of the drive motor 510 in the tape sending mechanism 509 is completed.
However, in the above-structured electronic component feeding apparatus 501, when the striped-off cover tape 11 is taken up onto the cover take-up reel 530 by the cover take-up reel 530 rotated by the drive motor 531 in the cover collecting mechanism 517, a take-up diameter of the cover tape 11 in the cover take-up reel 530 is changed corresponding to a take-up amount of the cover tape 11, which fluctuates a load on the drive motor 531. If a take-up amount increases, a load on the drive motor 531 increases, which causes such an issue as shortened life of the drive motor 531, increased frequency of motor replacement, deteriorated maintainability in the electronic component feeding apparatus, and degraded productivity in the electronic component mounting apparatus equipped with the electronic component feeding apparatus.
Further, as the drive motor 510 for driving the wheel 529 that sends off the taping component 3 by a constant amount in the tape sending mechanism 509, and as the drive motor 531 for driving the cover take-up reel 530 that takes up the stripped-off cover tape 11 in the cover collecting mechanism 517, DC motors (with brushes) and stepping motors are used. In such motors, for example, a brush is in contact with a rotational axis in the motor, and therefore replacement is necessary because of wear of this contact portion. For example, in a DC motor operating time is approximately 100 to 500 hours, and in a stepping motor operating time is approximately 2000 to 5000 hours. Consequently, a life of the motor is short and motor replacement frequency is increased, which causes such issues as further deteriorated maintainability in the electronic component feeding apparatus, and degraded productivity in the electronic component mounting apparatus equipped with the electronic component feeding apparatus.
Further, in a case of conducting replacement operation of each drive motor in the electronic component feeding apparatus, as with a case of replacing a drive motor 10 in a tape sending mechanism 9 for example, dismounting and mounting of a plurality of components are necessary, and after mounting of each component, a mounting position of each of the components needs to be adjusted, which requires a large amount of time and labor and causes such issues as considerable deterioration of maintainability of the electronic component feeding apparatus, and degraded productivity in the electronic component mounting apparatus equipped with the electronic component feeding apparatus as replacement frequency of the drive motor increases.
Also, corresponding to a width of the electronic component 19 to be incorporated, a width of the carrier tape and the cover tape of the taping component 3 is changed and set. Accordingly, in order to accept multiple kinds of taping components different in width of the cover tape 11, multiple kinds of cover take-up reels 530 and the like corresponding to respective tape widths, for use in the cover collecting mechanism 517, are prepared in a conventional electronic component feeding apparatus. This kind of diversification of size of cover-tape collecting components leads to increased apparatus costs, and causes such issues as increased mounting costs of electronic components and degraded productivity in the electronic component mounting apparatus equipped with the electronic component feeding apparatus.
In the conventional electronic component feeding apparatus, as shown in FIG. 19, dead cover tape 11 is collected by being taken up onto the cover take-up reel 530 placed on top of the apparatus. Further, dead carrier tape 13 is collected by being transported from a top end of the apparatus anterior to the tape sending mechanism 509 to an exterior of the apparatus.
However, in the constitution of separately collecting the cover tape 11 and the carrier tape 13 as shown above, a number of component parts is increased due to collection facilities for each of the tapes, which causes such issues as increased apparatus costs, increased costs of mounting electronic components in the electronic component mounting apparatus equipped with the electronic component feeding apparatus, and degraded productivity.
Also, for increasing productivity, a mounting line of electronic components and the like is often structured such that a plurality of electronic component mounting apparatuses are adjacently disposed in parallel so that a plurality of electronic component mounting apparatuses are simultaneously operated. In the conventional electronic component feeding apparatus, a mounting position of the component housing reel 7 is fixedly set to a specified position on the apparatus mainframe. Consequently, a position of the component housing reel 7 in each adjacent electronic component feeding apparatus is aligned, and thus a replacement operation of the component housing reel 7 is disturbed by the component housing reels 7 of other adjacent electronic component feeding apparatuses.
Accordingly, in the past when replacement of the taping component is necessary in some of the electronic component feeding apparatuses, a plurality of the electronic component mounting apparatus adjacently disposed in parallel are all temporarily stopped, and replacement of necessary taping components is conducted in order from an end. However, this reduces a continuous run length of the electronic component mounting apparatus, thereby causing such an issue as degradation of an effect of increasing productivity.
Further as described before, a mounting line of electronic components and the like is often structured such that a plurality of electronic component mounting apparatuses are adjacently disposed in parallel and a plurality of the electronic component mounting apparatuses are simultaneously operated. When replacement of the electronic component feeding apparatus in each electronic component mounting apparatus for change of mounted electronic components and the like becomes necessary, an opportunity of transferring the electronic component feeding apparatus is generated. Accordingly, in a state where the electronic component feeding apparatus is not installed in the electronic component mounting apparatus, the shutter 527 is provided with a cover (illustration omitted) corresponding to the size of the component pickup port 527a for closing the component pickup port 527a in order to prevent an electronic component from falling from the component pickup port 527a during transfer of the electronic component feeding apparatus.
However, in the conventional electronic component feeding apparatus, various kinds of covers are prepared corresponding to tape width or a size of the electronic component 19, and a cover with an optimum size conforming to the tape width or the size of the electronic component 19 is selected for replacement where necessary. This diversification of the cover also causes increased apparatus costs, as well as degraded productivity of the electronic component mounting apparatus equipped with the electronic component feeding apparatus.
Next, another example of the conventional electronic component feeding apparatus is shown in FIG. 27 and FIG. 28. FIG. 27 is a fragmentary side view showing an electronic component feeding apparatus that operates without power feeding, and FIG. 28 is a fragmentary side view showing an electronic component feeding apparatus that operates with power feeding.
The electronic component feeding apparatus 601 shown in FIG. 27 comprises, as shown in this drawing: an apparatus mainframe 605 for providing a transportation route of a taping component 3; a component housing reel 7 provided on one end of the apparatus mainframe 605; a tape sending mechanism 609 for intermittently sending off a taping component 3 pulled out from the component housing reel 7 by a specified length along a specified transportation route on the apparatus mainframe 605; a cover stripping-off mechanism 615 for stripping off a cover tape 11 from a carrier tape 13 of the taping component 3 sent off by the tape sending mechanism 609 in a specified position on the transportation route of the taping component 3; and a cover take-up mechanism 617 for serially taking up the cover tape 11 stripped off by the cover stripping-off mechanism 615. The electronic component feeding apparatus 601 is installed in an electronic component mounting apparatus such that electronic components 19 on the carrier tape 13 exposed through stripping-off of the cover tape 11 are serially passed through a component pickup position 21 of the electronic component mounting apparatus.
The electronic component mounting apparatus is provided with a suction nozzle 23 for sucking electronic component 19 by vacuum suction force at the component pickup position 21, and the electronic component 19 sucked by the suction nozzle 23 is sequentially transferred and mounted onto a printed board positioned in a specified position.
As shown in FIG. 29, the taping component 3 is structured such that on an upper-side face of a carrier tape 13, which incorporates chip-type electronic components 19 in upper-side recess portions 13a, a cover tape 11 for covering the recess portions 13a is attached in a detachable manner. The carrier tape 13 is set to have a width larger than the cover tape 11, and on one side edge of the carrier tape 13 on which the cover tape 11 is not attached, engagement holes 13b used by the tape sending mechanism 609 for sending and positioning of the tape are provided along a longitudinal direction of the tape at constant pitches.
The taping component 3 is rolled onto the component housing reel 7 that is rotatably supported by the apparatus mainframe 605.
The tape sending mechanism 609 has a link 628 for converting reciprocal movement of an operation lever 626, serving as an operating device, to reciprocal movement of a shutter 627 on a forward end of the transportation route, and a wheel 629 disposed on a lower front side of the shutter 627 that rotates by synchronizing with the reciprocal movement of the shutter 627. As shown in FIG. 30, engagement hooks 629a engaging with the engagement holes 13b of the taping component 3 are provided on an outer circumferential portion of the wheel 629 at constant pitches for intermittent constant-amount sending and positioning of the taping component 3.
The operation lever 626 is a swinging lever having a rotational axis concentric with a central axis of a cover take-up reel 630, and the reciprocal movement of the operation lever 626 is composed of a pressing operation by external force shown with arrow-C in FIG. 27 and a return operation in an opposite direction to that of arrow-C obtained when the external force is removed.
The shutter 627 is reciprocatably mounted on the apparatus mainframe 605 in a state of pressing an upper face of the cover tape 11 in the vicinity before the component pickup position 21. As shown in FIG. 31, the shutter 627 comprises a cover pressing part 627b for pressing the upper face of the cover tape 11, a cover pulling-out port 627c for pulling out the cover tape 11 stripped off from the carrier tape 13, a carrier pressing part 627d for pressing an upper face of the carrier tape 13 with the cover tape 11 stripped off, and a component pickup port 627a for suction nozzle 23 to pick up electronic component 19 from the carrier tape 13. The shutter 627 reciprocally moves in unison with the reciprocal movement of the operation lever 626. At a time of a pressing operation of the operation lever 626, the shutter 627 reciprocally moves a direction of arrow-D shown in FIG. 31, whereas at a time of a return operation of the operation lever 626, the shutter returns in an opposite direction to that of arrow-D.
The cover take-up mechanism 617 comprises a take-up reel 630 for taking up cover tape 11 stripped off from the carrier tape 13, a take-up lever integrally placed on the operation lever 626, a take-up spring for pressing the take-up lever to a take-up direction of the take-up reel 630, and a one-way clutch for linking a rotational axis of the take-up lever and a rotational axis of the take-up reel 630 only when the take-up lever rotates in a take-up direction of the take-up reel 630.
In the cover stripping-off mechanism 615, the cover tape 11 is stripped off from the carrier tape 13 by the reciprocal movement of the shutter 627, which interlocks with a sending operation of the taping component 3 by the tape sending mechanism 609, a take-up torque imparted by the cover take-up mechanism 617 to the cover tape 11 and the like.
Next, an electronic component feeding apparatus 701 shown in FIG. 28 is structured to be operated by power feeding with the operation lever 626 shown in FIG. 27 being omitted, and the constitution thereof is almost identical to that of FIG. 27 except for the driving structure. Therefore, description of the constitution identical to the electronic component feeding apparatus 601 shown in FIG. 27 is omitted, and only the constitution different therefrom will be described below.
The electronic component feeding apparatus 701 is rotated by a tape sending mechanism 709 being driven by a motor and sends off taping component 3. In synchronization with the tape sending mechanism 709, a cover take-up mechanism 717 also rotates.
The taping component 3 is housed in a state of being rolled onto component housing reel 7 supported by an apparatus mainframe 705 rotatably about a reel axis 7a. 
The cover take-up mechanism 717 comprises a take-up reel 730 for taking up cover tape 11 stripped off from carrier tape 13, a take-up lever 732 linked to the take-up reel 730, a take-up spring 734 for pressing the take-up lever 732 to a take-up direction of the take-up reel 730, and a one-way clutch for linking a rotational axis of the take-up lever 732 and a rotational axis of the take-up reel 730 only when the take-up lever 732 rotates in the take-up direction of the take-up reel 730.
However, in a case of the electronic component feeding apparatus 601 that operates without power feeding shown in FIG. 27, the tape sending mechanism 609 is structured such that a position of engagement of the engagement holes 13b of the taping component 3 by the engagement hooks 629a of the wheel 629 determines accuracy of a stop position of the wheel 629. This necessitates slight mechanical adjustment of the component pickup position 21 of the suction nozzle 23 in the electronic component mounting apparatus. For example, one reciprocating operation of the operation lever 626 determines a reference sending amount of the taping component 3, more particularly the sending amount is determined by reference sending amount×number of times. Since a sendable amount is only an integer multiple of the reference sending amount, if a necessary sending amount is not an integer multiple of the reference sending amount, it is necessary to perform such mechanical adjustment as changing a ratio of the reciprocating operation of the operation lever 626 by the link 628 to the rotational amount of the wheel 629 for changing the reference sending amount itself. However, if a sending amount needs to be changed due to replacement of the taping component 3 with a component of other kinds and the like, it is necessary to disassemble parts of the electronic component feeding apparatus 601 and perform the above-stated mechanical adjustment of the component pickup position 21, which disturbs easy changing of the component pickup position 21.
Further, in a case of the electronic component feeding apparatus 701 that operates with power feeding shown in FIG. 28, even if some trouble is already present at a point of installing the electronic component feeding apparatus 701 in the electronic component mounting apparatus, an operator can recognize the trouble of the electronic component feeding apparatus 701 only after the trouble occurs when the electronic component mounting apparatus is operated. If there is a sending failure of the taping component 3 or a shortage of the taping component 3 in the electronic component feeding apparatus, sending of the taping component 3 or winding of the cover tape 11 are not normally executed when the electronic component mounting apparatus is operated. It is not until this failure is notified by virtue of a lamp or a buzzer provided on the electronic component mounting apparatus side that an operator of the electronic component mounting apparatus recognizes the failure based on this notification, and therefore the operator tentatively stops the electronic component mounting apparatus for correcting a suction position 1g (component pickup position) of the taping component 3 or for replacing the taping component 3.
Therefore, in terms of ensuring sending of the taping component 3 in the electronic component mounting apparatus equipped with the electronic component feeding apparatus, the above-described conventional constitution has such issues as deteriorated usability of the electronic component mounting apparatus and decreased operating ratio of the electronic component mounting apparatus, as well as degraded productivity of the electronic component mounting apparatus.
Accordingly, for solving the above issues, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic component feeding apparatus for feeding electronic components in a state of being installed in an electronic component mounting apparatus, whose productivity in the electronic component mounting apparatus is increased by improvement of maintainability and usability and by reduction of manufacturing costs.